It is often said that the bigger the head, the bigger the headache. The same holds true for vehicles. The bigger the vehicle and engine, the higher the parking and washing fees. The apparent discrimination against the type of vehicle a motorist drives is well-documented in private and public rules and regulations. For example, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) in Lagos, operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, parking fee for an SUV is N4,000 for the first hour and N3,500 for a car.

Peoples Gazette’s checks revealed that the vehicle’s size, space occupied, time, effort, and resources expended on them, as well as their wear and tear on the roads, among other factors, are considered before they are charged.

As a result, since SUVs are bigger, occupy more space, consume more time for services to be rendered upon, amongst other factors, their owners have to pay more when compared to the charges demanded from owners of saloon cars, which occupy less space, take less time to render services.

The Gazette spoke to auto dealers, car washes, parking and repair facilities, and government officials to shed light on the reasons for the disparity in charges for services rendered to both kinds of vehicles.

Washing, water and whatever

Metaphorically, it is easier for a saloon to pass through the eye of a needle than for an SUV to get a nice wash or a parking space in Nigeria.

“SUVs are bigger than normal sedans. The time used to clean the sedan is not the same as the time you will use to clean the SUV. So, there’s definitely going to be a price difference,” said Favour at Wash by Cityclapr in Abuja. “It’s just like you buying a shoe from the market, a particular shoe is size 23, while the other shoe is size 45, there’s definitely going to be a difference in prices because of their sizes.”

Autos Autosparkle in Lagos noted that an SUV has a larger surface area than a saloon. For example, SUVs have a third row of seats at the back; they are taller; the roof is wider; the dashboards and doors are bigger; and the body and floor area are wider, requiring more time and resources.

According to Carwash Masters, also in Lagos, cleaning a small car takes an average of an hour, while an SUV takes 1.5 hours. The time spent has to be accounted for. Also, the amount of product needed to wash an SUV is more than for a car, because SUVs are bigger.

“Saloon and SUV cars come with different spaces. The dimensions are not the same. Saloon cars have smaller, more compact parts, while SUVs have larger, more spacious cabins,” Dozila Carwash told The Gazette. “When you wash, you consider the time spent, the amount of chemicals to be used on an SUV, which will be less on a smaller vehicle. It’s just like bathing a baby and a teenager: you won’t use the same amount of water or the same amount of time. So, the time you spend and the amount of chemicals used are factored into the price.”

Balosh Integrated Services, in Lagos, noted that the bigger the car, the more space taken, the more weight, the more wear and tear on the floor, stating that “just like at a toll gate, there’s a price charged for motorcycles, buses, trailers, because of the wear and tear on the floor on the property”.

Parking palaver

The CEO of Complete Parking Services, Wasiu Seriki, explained that SUVs occupy more space because they are large, and that their size extends the time it takes to park.

“SUVs consume greater resources. When we’re factoring pricing, we normally look at the vehicle density relative to the car park spaces we allocate. If a car consumes more resources, it means it will complicate our parking operations because we’ll need to spend more time helping them park in those spaces or manoeuvre and drive out of them.

“We need to factor into the pricing the time the employee spends monitoring and managing their entry and exit from our spaces. However, this is the international standard,” said Mr Seriki.

The team lead for the technical team at Parking Services and Management Company, Prince Adegoroye, highlighted the impact on space and management factors.

“Space is money, and SUVs take up more space than smaller cars. The design you made for your car park facility, taking SUVs into account, differs from that for saloon cars, which affects the costing. SUVs are heavier than Saloon cars, so wear and tear on infrastructure is also factored,” Mr Adegoroye told The Gazette.

He added, “Most automated parking locations provide surveillance coverage, so it costs more to provide surveillance for the vehicles. The kind of angle required for SUVs is bigger than that for saloon cars. When you reach the entrance of most automated parking locations, you will notice a slight slowdown for SUVs compared to saloon cars. SUVs take a bit longer time at the entry and exit points than saloon cars.”

The Ondo state branch manager of Elizade Motors, Adewoye Olawale, stated, “SUV is taller, and its ground clearance is bigger. SUVs occupy a bit more space. If you check the width of SUVs, like comparing the Camry to the Land Cruiser, you’ll discover that the Land Cruiser is longer and wider than a Camry. I have a jeep and a car. When they want to charge, they wash the car for N2,500, while my SUV, they wash it for N3,000, I guess because it’s a bigger vehicle.”

Workshop manager for Globe Motors, Stephen Ibok, also noted that the time, labour, and energy expended in servicing an SUV “is higher than what you will spend on a sedan”. 

SUVs and cars in the eye of the law

FRSC spokesperson, Osondu Ohaeri, said, “It boils down to operational modalities. For us in FRSC, when booking a ticket, the fines apply to all forms of vehicles. We don’t want to know whether you’re driving an SUV or a taxi, because when you don’t use your seat belt, the same fine applies to all parties. If it’s a number plate violation, whether it’s an Okada rider or a Toyota car owner, the same fine applies. We call it NPV.

“When it comes to number plate purchasing, it falls under the purview of the Motor Licensing Authority. Our own is just to produce. Sometimes, what they pay in Delta State may differ from what is charged in Enugu State because of each state’s independent revenue policies. We only produce number plates based on the request from the Motor Licensing Authority.”

A unit director in the Lagos VIS, Alimi Olatunji, stated that charges are fixed by the government.

“That’s the law enacted by the Lagos state government. Any offence you commit, the fine is there. Our own is to enforce the law and fine you, according to what the law says. All fines are the same for all types of vehicles, depending on the offence you commit. 

“If you’re driving a car, you cannot have maybe more than insurance, but if you’re driving an articulated vehicle, you’ll have to have what we call a Hackney permit. With that, the fine varies, and the price to obtain it varies. The Hackney Permit for all these commuter vehicles can’t be compared with those for bigger vehicles. It varies depending on the vehicle’s width, size, capacity, and the number of tons it can carry.

“The charges for SUVs and saloon cars are not the same for vehicle licenses. An SUV is stronger than a saloon car. An SUV is like a jeep; it’s a mini truck. Compared to somebody driving an ordinary saloon car, it can never be the same. The charges vary, depending on the size of the vehicles and the purpose for which they were designed,” Mr Olatunji explained.